How to SUBSTANTIALLY reduce electricity use?

[FlyingScot]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

Update: after 4 days away, we came back and, set at 60% humidity, the basement smelled a tad musty. I've moved it to 50, so we'll see what happens there. Maybe the sensor isn't so inaccurate after all.

We had turned the AC up to 85, which actually wasn't terrible in the house since the humidity had still been removed. It did take a while to cool down to 75, though, so I'm wondering how long it has to be set at 85 to save money when "catching up" on our return home. I have to think having it set at 85 for the days it was 95+ saved us a few bucks.

I've got the AC set to 74 right now—we tried 75, but that was just a tad warm. 72 was cool enough to need blankets, so I'm thinking 74 will be fine and save us some moolah.

I wish I could have tested the water heater temp when we returned (after putting it on vacation mode). The tank, 50 gallons, is in a well-insulated closet, so I don't think there's much standby loss at all. I did turn on "energy saver" mode, though, which is supposed to tailor itself to our water use habits.

The last thing I've been thinking about is the dryer and cooking. We can easily do more grilling and use smaller burners when cooking, but I don't see much of an alternative to drying clothes—given its location, it would be a pain to hang outside and hanging inside would increase humidity that the dehumidifier would have to pull out...though now that I think about it, my washer has an extra spin mode that might help. It's a Speed Queen, which is so powerful it'll spin those things almost dry on its own. To the basement!

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If it's just the humidity while you're away, maybe a dehumidifer would be more effective and cheaper to operate? We have this one pumping into a sink, works incredibly well

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by FlyingScot

If it's just the humidity while you're away, maybe a dehumidifer would be more effective and cheaper to operate?

Bearing in mind that a dehumidifier used in the living space will add heat. My 6000 BTU AC uses .6 kWh per hour and the dehumidifier uses .4. I don't know if there is an increased risk of overheating and fire with a dehumidifier that runs all the time versus the cycling of an air conditioner. I'm never comfortable leaving things on when I'm traveling. I'd rather be safe than save a few dollars.

[DickR]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

Bearing in mind that a dehumidifier used in the living space will add heat. ... and the dehumidifier uses .4....

To that 0.4 KWH/hr of electric input turned into heat by the dehumidifier, add about 0.3 KWH for every pint of water ("a pint's a pound, the world around") condensed by the unit.